U.S. patent number 8,594,359 [Application Number 13/066,213] was granted by the patent office on 2013-11-26 for earphone.
This patent grant is currently assigned to JVC Kenwood Corporation. The grantee listed for this patent is Masaki Takei. Invention is credited to Masaki Takei.
United States Patent |
8,594,359 |
Takei |
November 26, 2013 |
Earphone
Abstract
An earphone includes a speaker unit, a housing that covers a
rear surface of the speaker unit, and a bushing having a cord
holding portion that holds a cord that carries an audio signal to
the speaker unit and is running to the outside of the housing. The
bushing also has an extended portion that is extended into the
housing and spread along an inner surface of the housing. The inner
surface of the housing faces the rear surface of the speaker
unit.
Inventors: |
Takei; Masaki (Yokohama,
JP) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Takei; Masaki |
Yokohama |
N/A |
JP |
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Assignee: |
JVC Kenwood Corporation
(Yokohama-Shi, Kanagawa, JP)
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Family
ID: |
44760953 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/066,213 |
Filed: |
April 8, 2011 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20110249856 A1 |
Oct 13, 2011 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Apr 13, 2010 [JP] |
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2010-092121 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
381/380; 381/381;
381/371; 381/370; 381/384 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04R
1/1016 (20130101); H04R 1/1033 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04R
25/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;381/370,380,384,371,381
;181/129-130,135 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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2001-333484 |
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Nov 2001 |
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JP |
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2010-154465 |
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Jul 2010 |
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JP |
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Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Duc
Assistant Examiner: Eason; Matthew
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Renner, Kenner, Greive, Bobak,
Taylor & Weber
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An earphone comprising: a speaker unit having a sound emitting
surface through which a sound is emitted and a rear surface, on
both sides of the speaker unit; a bushing through which a cord that
carries an audio signal to the speaker unit runs to the outside of
the earphone; and a housing having a first housing member, a second
housing member, and a third housing member that are combined with
each other to constitute the housing, wherein the housing covers
the speaker unit and covers a portion of the bushing, wherein a
back cavity is provided between the rear surface of the speaker
unit and the portion of the bushing, the back cavity being
surrounded by inner surfaces of the first, second, and third
housing members, such that the portion of the bushing extends into
the housing so that the portion of the bushing covers a border line
between the first and second housing members, and a border line
between the second and third housing members.
2. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein the speaker unit is
housed in one of the first, second, and third housing members with
a gap between the speaker unit and the one housing member, a top of
the portion of the bushing being inserted into the gap so that the
portion of the bushing covers the speaker unit.
3. The earphone according to claim 1, wherein the bushing is made
of a material softer than a material of the housing.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority
from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-092121 filed on
Apr. 13, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein
by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an earphone. Specifically, this
invention relates to an earphone having a bushing that holds a cord
running from a main body of the earphone.
A known earphone is equipped with a main body, a speaker unit
installed in the main body, a cord connected to the speaker unit at
one end thereof and running from the main body, and a bushing that
holds the cord that is running from the main body. Such a known
earphone is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Un-Examined Patent
Publication No. 2001-333484.
In a known earphone, a main body consists of a plurality of
housings.
Specifically, in one type of known earphone, a main body contains a
speaker unit and consists of a front housing and a rear housing.
The front and rear housings are combined to constitute the main
body so that the front one is located at the side of a user's head
whereas the rear one is located at the outer side when the earphone
is attached to the auricle of the user's ear. The front and rear
housings are combined to each other by ultrasonic welding or an
adhesive.
Provided at the rear side of the speaker unit in the main body is a
back cavity that is a space surrounded by the inner surfaces of the
front and rear housings.
The space of the back cavity and the outer space are partitioned
only by the front or rear housing. The front and rear housings are
usually made by resin molding and hence not so excellent in sound
isolation. Thus, the sound emitted at the rear side of the speaker
unit travels through the front or rear housing without isolated
enough and leaks to the outside of the main body.
Moreover, when the front and rear housings are combined by
ultrasonic welding, the faying portions of the housings are joined
to each other by point welding with gaps being created between the
faying surfaces thereof.
Such gaps are also created between the faying surfaces of the front
and rear housings when the housings are combined by an adhesive.
This is because it is difficult to apply the adhesive on the faying
surfaces so as not to create the gaps in mass production.
Accordingly, it is difficult to avoid the gaps between the front
and rear housings when the housings are combined by ultrasonic
welding or an adhesive. The sound that leaks from the gaps is
comparatively larger than that leaking from the other parts of the
main body.
There is a demand for earphones with smaller sound leakage that can
be used in a specific environment (such as, in a train) where it is
preferable not to leak sounds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A purpose of the present invention is to provide an earphone with a
dual housing structure that allows smaller sound leakage.
The present invention provides an earphone comprising: a speaker
unit; a housing that covers a rear surface of the speaker unit; and
a bushing having a cord holding portion that holds a cord that
carries an audio signal to the speaker unit and is running to the
outside of the housing, and having an extended portion that is
extended into the housing and spread along an inner surface of the
housing, the inner surface facing the rear surface of the speaker
unit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 an external perspective view of an embodiment of an earphone
according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the earphone
according to the present invention viewed from an upward
position;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the embodiment of the earphone
according to the present invention viewed from a forward
position;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a bushing used in the embodiment of
the earphone according to the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the bushing used in the embodiment of the
earphone according to the present invention viewed from three
directions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be
described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an earphone 50, an
embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view
of the earphone 50 attached to a user's right ear (not shown) and
viewed from a forward (the user's face side) and diagonally
downward position.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the earphone 50 attached to the right
ear and viewed from an upward position. FIG. 3 is a sectional view
of the earphone 50 attached to the right ear and viewed from a
forward position, taken on line S1-S1 in FIG. 2.
The signs "FORWARD", "BACKWARD", "INWARD", "OUTWARD", "UPWARD", and
"DOWNWARD" shown in the drawings indicate the directions with
respect to the earphone 50 attached to the right ear.
An earphone of the present invention to be attached to a user's
left ear has the shape of plane symmetry to the earphone 50 for the
right ear. Thus, the earphone 50 for the right ear will only be
explained in the following description.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the earphone 50 is equipped with a main
body 1, a tube portion 2 that protrudes from the main body 1 in a
diagonally forward and inward direction, a bushing 4 that protrudes
from the main body 1 in a downward direction, and a cord 4a running
through the bushing 4. An earpiece EP is detachably attached to
tube portion 2. Part of the earpiece EP is cut away in FIG. 3 for
clarity.
The earphone 50 is attached to the right ear, with at least the top
of the tube portion 2 and the earpiece attached thereto being
inserted into the ear channel and the main body 2 being fit inside
the auricle.
The cord 4a connected to the speaker unit SP is running to the
outside through the bushing 4. The portion of the cord 4a running
from the speaker unit SP to the bushing 4 is omitted in FIGS. 2 and
3 for clarity.
The main body 1 consists of a front housing 1A and a rear housing
1B each formed by resin molding. The front and rear housings 1A and
1B are combined in the inward and outward directions to constitute
the main body 1. A housing HS is configured to include the main
body 1 (the front and rear housings 1A and 1B) and other parts,
such as, an ornament 3 which will be described later.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the front and rear housings 1A and 1B
are formed to have a stepped faying surface le. The housings 1A and
1B are joined to each other at the stepped faying surface le by
ultrasonic welding.
The front housing 1A is provided with a rib 1Af that protrudes
towards the rear housing 1B. The rear housing 1B is provided with a
stepped portion 1Bf to receive the rib 1Af. The housings 1A and 1B
are combined to each other so that the rib 1Af and the stepped
portion 1Bf are engaged with each other to form the stepped faying
surface 1e.
When the front and rear housings 1A and 1B are joined to each other
by ultrasonic welding, a plurality of portions of the housings 1A
and 1B, the portions of each housing being separated from each
other on the faying surface 1e, are melted by ultrasonic waves.
Thus, the housings 1A and 1B are joined to each other with slight
gaps between the separated portions. The tube portion 2 is formed
as one part of and integral with the front housing 1A.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tube portion 2 is formed so that a center
axis line CL2 of the tube portion 2 has an angle .phi.a with
respect to a center axis line CL1 of the speaker unit SP, in
relation to the angle of the ear channel. The angle .phi.a is, for
example, 30 degrees.
The rear housing 1B is provided with an opening 1B1 on the surface
thereof in the outward direction.
A pan-like ornament 3 formed by resin molding is attached to the
rear housing 1B. In detail, a paw 3a provided at the edge of the
ornament 3 is engaged, as so-called a snap fit, with the edge of
the opening 1B1 of the rear housing 1B.
With the snap fit, the ornament 3 is attached to the rear housing
1B with no filler applied to a contact surface RS1 between the
ornament 3 and the rear housing 1B so that there is a slight gap at
the contact surface RS1.
The housing HS is configured to include the ornament 3, the front
housing 1A, and the rear housing 1B.
As shown in FIG. 2, the front housing 1A is provided with a concave
portion 1Ag that communicates with a hollow space V1 of the tube
portion 2. Formed on the inner surface of the concave portion 1Ag
is a stepped portion 1Ah having a smaller diameter at the tube
portion 2 side.
The speaker unit SP is inserted into the stepped portion 1Ah to
face the tube portion 2 so that a flange SPf of the speaker unit SP
is in contact with the stepped portion 1Ah. Then, the speaker unit
SP is fixed in the stepped portion 1Ah with an adhesive or the
like.
Provided in the front housing 1A is a space V2 at a sound emitting
surface SPh side of the speaker unit SP. In detail, the space V2 is
surrounded by the sound emitting surface SPh and an inner wall 1Ag1
of the concave portion 1Ag so that it communicates with the space
V1.
The speaker unit SP is covered with the housing HS at a rear
surface SPr side thereof so as to have a space V3. The space V3 is
surrounded by the rear surface SPr, an inner surface 1Au of the
front housing 1A, an inner surface 1Bu of the rear housing 1B, and
an inner surface 3u of the ornament 3. The space V3 is so-called a
back cavity BC.
As shown in FIG. 2, the concave portion 1Ag is provided with a
groove portion 1Aj at a part thereof in a circumferential
direction, having a groove cut in a direction away from the center
line CL1 and lying in the inward and outward directions. The groove
portion 1Aj forms a gap between the surface of the concave portion
1Ag and the flange SPf of the speaker SP. The gap lies in the
inward and outward directions through which the spaces V2 and V3
communicate with each other.
This structure allows part of sounds emitted from the speaker unit
SP at the space V2 side to reach the space V3 having a volume
larger than the space V2, achieving stable sound quality of
excellent characteristics.
Therefore, the earphone 50 does not require such a conventional
sound-quality adjustment hole through which the space V2 provided
in the front housing 1A communicates with an external space AR.
There is thus no sound leakage through such conventional
sound-quality adjustment hole, in the earphone 50.
As shown in FIG. 1, the ornament 3 has an arc-like cut-away section
3k at a lower part thereof in the downward direction. The rear
housing 1B also has a cut-away section 1Bk at a lower part thereof
in the downward direction. The cut-away sections 3k and 1Bk are
connected to each other to provide an opening 1k for the bushing 4
to be fit in.
The bushing 4 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4
and 5.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bushing 4 viewed from
diagonally upward inside the user's head when the earphone 50 is
attached to the right ear.
In FIG. 5, (a) is a plan view of the bushing 4 viewed from above
inside the user's head when the earphone 50 is attached to the
right ear, (b) being a plan view of the bushing 4 viewed in a
direction indicated by an arrow YS1 in (a), and (c) being a plan
view of the bushing 4, that is the reversal of the plan view of (a)
in the direction vertical to the plan view of (a).
The bushing 4 is made of a material softer and more flexible than
the front housing 1A, the rear housing 1B, and the ornament 3.
Preferable materials for the bushing 4 are rubber, such as silicon
rubber, and a form material.
As shown in FIG. 5 and also FIG. 3, the bushing 4 is constituted by
a flat base portion 4k having a roughly oval shape, a wall portion
4h standing in one direction from a circumferential edge of the
base portion 4k, an oval protruding portion 4t protruding in the
other direction from the center area of the base portion 4k, a cord
holding portion 4c having a bottom section that stretches over the
base portion 4k and the protruding portion 4t and a top section
that protrudes downwardly.
As shown in FIG. 4, the cord holding portion 4c has a hollow body
with a through hole 4d indicated by a broken line. At the bottom
section of the cord holding portion 4c, the through hole 4d is
exposed through an opening 4e so as to stretch over the base
portion 4k and the protruding portion 4t.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the speaker unit SP is provided with a
pair of terminals ts to which the cord 4a is connected for external
audio signal input at the rear surface SPr. In detail, the cord 4a
is connected to the terminals and running therefrom to the outside
through the cord holding portion 4c (through the opening 4e and the
through hole 4c.)
The portion of the cord 4a extending from the terminals ts to the
opening 4c of the bushing 4 is omitted in FIGS. 2 and 3 for
clarity.
Described below in detail with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3 is the
structural relationship among the front housing 1A, the rear
housing 1B, and the bushing 4.
The bushing 4 is attached to the main body 1 in such a way that it
is fit in the opening 1k (FIG. 1) so that the cord holding portion
4c of the bushing 4 protrudes downwardly from the opening 1k.
Moreover, the bushing 4 is attached to the main body 1 in such a
way that an outer surface BG of the bushing 4 (referred to as a
bushing outer surface BG, hereinafter) covers an inner surface HN
of the housing HS (referred to as a housing inner surface HN,
hereinafter.) The reference signs BG and HN are not shown in FIGS.
2 and 3 so that the drawings do not become complicated. The bushing
outer surface BG stretches from the protruding portion 4t to the
wall portion 4h through the base portion 4k, as indicated by a
dash-dotted line in (b) of FIG. 5. The housing inner surface HN
stretches from the ornament 3 to the front housing 1A through the
rear housing 1B.
The bushing outer surface BG and the housing inner surface HN may
be in contact with each other or are separated from each other with
a slight gap. Or, the outer and inner surfaces BG and HN may be in
contact with each other for only part of the surfaces. Moreover,
the outer and inner surfaces BG and HN may be fixed to each other
with an adhesive for the entire surfaces or part of the
surfaces.
As shown in FIG. 3, the top of the wall portion 4h of the bushing 4
is inserted into a gap between the front housing 1A and the speaker
unit SR When the top of the wall portion 4h is inserted into the
gap, the contact surface RS1 between the ornament 3 and the rear
housing 1B is covered by the bushing outer surface BG. More
specifically, a border line RS2 (FIG. 2) between the ornament 3 and
the rear housing 1B and on the contact surface RS1, that is exposed
to the back cavity BC, is covered by the bushing outer surface
BG.
Moreover, when the top of the wall portion 4h is inserted into the
gap, the stepped faying surface le between the front and rear
housings 1A and 1B is covered by the bushing outer surface BG. More
specifically, a border line 1e1 between the front and rear housings
1A and 1B and on the stepped faying surface 1e, that is exposed to
the back cavity BC, is covered by the bushing outer surface BG.
As described above, the bushing 4 is installed in the earphone 50
so that the bushing outer surface BG covers the housing inner
surface HN.
The bushing 4 having the configuration described above provides a
dual housing structure in which an inner housing is housed in an
outer housing.
The dual housing structure, a unique feature of the present
invention, has several advantages as explained below.
There are three walls created between the back cavity BC and the
external space AR (FIG. 2). Those are the walls of: the back cavity
BC and the external space AR (FIG. 2); the front housing 1A and the
bushing 4; the rear housing 1B and the bushing 4; and the ornament
3 and the bushing 4. The three walls diminish the sounds to be
leaked to the external space AR from the back cavity BC.
The bushing 4 covers the stepped faying surface 1e between the
front and rear housings 1A and 1B, and also covers the contact
surface RS1 between the ornament 3 and the rear housing 1B. This
structure diminishes the sounds to be leaked to the external space
AR from the back cavity BC through the stepped faying surface le or
the contact surface RS1.
Moreover, the dual housing structure diminishes the sounds to be
leaked to the external space AR, without respect to how the front
and rear housings are combined to each other, for example, by
ultrasonic welding or an adhesive.
In this embodiment, the bushing 4 covers at least part of the
housing inner surface HN of the housing HS that is constituted by
the front and rear housings 1A and 1B. The bushing 4 is made of a
flexible material, such as silicon rubber, softer than a material
of the housing HS, for example, resin. Thus, when sounds are
emitted to the back cavity BC, a portion of the sounds is reflected
on the bushing outer surface BG of the bushing 4. If the bushing 4
is not provided, the sounds emitted to the back cavity BC are
reflected on the inner surface HN of the housing HS. The energy of
the sounds is more attenuated by the bushing 4 than by the housing
HS.
The dual housing structure, a unique feature of the present
invention, will be described more in detail.
The bushing 4 that supports the cord 4a running from the main body
1 has an extended portion EZ (FIG. 3) that is installed in the back
cavity BC of the main body 1 from an end section of the cord
supporting portion 4c. The extended portion EZ is formed into a
unique shape that is spread along the inner surface of at least the
rear housing 1B. The extended portion EZ acts as an inner housing
to cover the inner surface of at least the rear housing 1B. And,
the rear housing 1B whose inner surface is covered by the extended
portion Ez acts an outer housing.
The extended portion EZ of the bushing 4 has a unique shape, like a
dish antenna, as shown in FIG. 5, placed on the cord holding
portion 4c, spread around 360 degrees, with an end section of the
cord holding portion 4c being roughly the center of the dish-like
shape.
The extended portion EZ of the bushing 4 covers at least part of
the outer housing. However, it is more preferable that the extended
portion EZ also covers the rear surface SPr of the speaker unit SP
in such a manner that the top of the wall portion 4h of the bushing
4 is inserted into the gap between the front housing 1A and the
speaker unit SP, as shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, the extended portion
EZ covers at least the border line between two components of the
outer housing when the outer housing is constituted by a plural
number of components (that are the front housing 1A, the rear
housing 1B, and the ornament 3 of the hosing HS in the
embodiment.)
In known earphones, the number of components is increased for the
dual housing structure. On the contrary, in the earphone 50 of the
embodiment, the extended portion EZ that is part of the bushing 4
acts as the inner housing of the dual housing structure, thus there
is no increase in the number of components for the dual housing
structure.
Moreover, the bushing 4 of the earphone 50 has the portion that is
installed in the main body 1, that is the extended portion EZ
larger than the portion of a bushing to be installed in a main body
of a known earphone. The bushing 4 is thus hardly detached from the
main body 1 when the cord 4a is forcefully pulled from the main
body 1.
It is further understood by those skilled in the art that the
foregoing description is a preferred embodiment of the disclosed
device and that various changes and modifications may be made in
the invention without departing from the spirit and scope
thereof.
For example, the hosing HS of the earphone 50 is constituted by the
three components (the front housing 1A, the rear housing 1B, and
the ornament 3). However, the housing HS may be constituted by four
or more, or two or less of components.
Moreover, the speaker unit SP installed in the main body 1 of the
earphone 50, may be attached to the top of the tube portion 2 so
that the speaker unit SP is inserted into the ear channel with the
earpiece EP in use. This type of earphone is disclosed, for
example, in Patent Application Publication No. US
2009/0304220A1.
The spaces V1 and V2 do not exist when the present invention is
applied to such type of earphone. In this case, the only space V3
(the back cavity BC) includes the hollow space of the tube portion
2. The extended portion EZ may extend from the space V3 to the
hollow space of the tube portion 2.
In the embodiment, the top of the wall portion 4h of the bushing 4
is inserted into the gap between the front housing 1A and the
speaker unit SP, as shown in FIG. 3, which further decreases the
sound leakage to the outside. However, this is not an essential
structure in this invention.
In the embodiment, the extended portion EZ of the bushing 4 has a
unique shape, like a dish antenna, as shown in FIG. 5, placed on
the cord holding portion 4c, spread around 360 degrees, with an end
section of the cord holding portion 4c being roughly the center of
the dish-like shape. However, the extended portion EZ may not
necessarily lie continuously in 360 degrees. The extended portion
EZ may have any shape spread along the housing inner surface HN of
the hosing HS and having slits or the like, as long as the dual
housing structure described above is achieved.
As disclosed above in detail, the present invention provides an
earphone with a dual housing structure that allows smaller sound
leakage.
* * * * *